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I wouldn't be surprised to learn that US paid NK to mess around a bit so that south Korea and Japan would welcome US military around the region. It also makes it easier to fund missile defense by making it more relevant.

NK craziness just doesn't quite make sense. Either they're really desperate or they're just being orchestrated by 'somebody' to act crazy for a purpose...

I'm really more worried about USA actually. The mental state of our president and the readiness of our military. 2 warships crippled by freighters within a few months. Did somebody figured out a way to disable US ships without firing a shot or is our Navy really that incompetent that they can't even spot freighters bigger than they are again and again... either way, it's bad and embarrassing. Our lousy president can be sort of excused by stupid voters, but our lousy military is inexcusable.

NK craziness just doesn't quite make sense. Either they're really desperate or they're just being orchestrated by 'somebody' to act crazy for a purpose...

You're right. It doesn't make sense. But keep in mind two things:

1) N. Korea and S. Korea (and by extension, the USA) are still technically 'at war' with each other. There was no peace treaty, but an armistice.

2) N. Korea was initially led by an extremely eccentric dictator who lasted until 1994, and this has not changed after that position passed to his son and grandson.

They think they 'won' the Korean war and as a result the North Koreans are hyped up on Juche and self-determination. It's country's fighting spirit has become an ideology. Since the 80s the country's development has stagnated. They still use MiG-15s in the air force! But to them oh no it's fine, it's all fine.

The people in NK would be desperate but they just don't know it yet. And they're not being orchestrated by anybody. Aside from foreign aid from various sources any outside influence over the DPRK government is extremely minimal. There are treaties between the north and south that point towards finding peaceful solutions for reunification, but tensions seem to oscillate over the years.

Other than that, NK is exactly like what you see in the movies. The amount of food assistance a family gets is allegedly linked to how loyal they are to the country, a concept called Songbun (not to be confused with Songun, which prioritises the military in all state and economic affairs). And they have proper gulags.